Hand stamp device



Jan. 5, 1954 G. T. BROWN, JR

HAND STAMP DEVICE Filed July 7, 1950 FIG. Il

FIG. lo

Elli' .il l

` mvENroR GEORGE T. BROWN JR.

HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 5, A1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a hand stamp device having a single handle adapted to hold any one of a plurality of type members such as may be used in price marking systems.

For instance, in a grocery store where it is intended to mark several cartons of the same kind of canned food', one price type member is used over and over, only to be changed when cans requiring another price are to be marked.

To employ a separate handle for each type member, of which there may be a hundred in a set, involves added cost and` bulkiness to the set. Moreover it is desirable to have handles of various' lengths, a long handle being used for marking cans in the bottom layers of a carton and a short handle being used for marking the tops of cans on a shelf where the overhead distance to the next higher shelf is small.

This invention provides a hand stamp device employing a single'handle for use with any one of a number of type members.

Another object of the invention isto provide a handle of two sections, said two sections, when coupled together, forming a long handle, and one of the sections forming a short handle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clutch and release mechanism of novel design by which the type members are attached to and released from the handle. y

With these and incidental objects in View, the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification.

Of the drawing:

Fig. l is a vertical section through a handle `with a type member attached, the type member vof Fig. 'l on the line 5-5 thereof;

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the type member' of Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is a broken vertical section of a modifled form ofthe invention; l

Fig. 8 shows the substance of Fig. 2 with the upper section of the handle removed;

Fig. 9 is the clutch portion of Fig. 8 rotated on a vertical axis;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of a type member storage tray; and

Fig. ll is the clutch portion of the substanc of Fig. '7 rotated 90 on a Vertical axis.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10, there is provided a tubular handle portion 20 having in the lower end thereof a plug 2| having a conical axial bore 22. A radial hole in the plug 2| contains a spring 23 under compression behind a ball 24 which is thereby resiliently held partially protruding into the conical bore, but prevented from being pushed clear into the bore by a constriction of the inner end of the radial hole in which itmoves.

The type members, typified by the 10c type member shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 each have a type character 25, preferably of ink-impregnated micro-porous resiliently vulcanized rubber contained in a cup-like holderV 26 in which the type character is secured, said cap having a conical tenon 2l adapted to enter the conical bore of the handle. The tenon has a groove 28 into which the ball 24 fits after having been pushed sidewise by the entering point of the tenori. This clutch construction permits the fastening of. a type member to the handle by merely placing the handle over the tenon of the type member and pushing down on the handle to cause the tenon to enterthe conical bore and be secured therein by the spring-pressed ball entering the groove. Inasmuch as the outer end of the conical bore 4is much larger in diameter than the apex of the tenon, the handle may be held in one hand and placed` over the tenon of the selected type member in the box without any difficulty. No exact centeringof the handle with respect to the type member is necessary as would be the case if the bore inthe handle andthe cooperating tenon were cylindrical. If the preferred porous resilient rubber type is used, pressure on the type character is to be avoided until a printing operation is performed and, therefore, the cup-shaped type holder 2.6 is provided with a shoulder 29 adapted to rest on the supporting counter-bored circumference of areceiving hole 3U (Fig. 3) in a storage tray 3l so that the type can not come in contact with the bottom of the hole even when `the handle is being attached.

Referring` to Fig. 1, a release device is provided in the handle for forcing out thetype member from the clutching action of the ball. This releasing device consists of a shaft 32, within the tubular handle 20, topped by a nger push Abutton 38 protruding from the upper end of the handle. A turned over edge 34 of the handle portion cooperates with shoulder 35 on the button to prevent withdrawal of shaft 32 upwardly. A com-r pressed spring seated at its upper end against the bottom of button 33 and seated at its lower end on plug 2i resiliently holds shaft 32 at its upper limit of movement. The lower end of shaft 32 is equipped with a pin which extends into the upper end of the conical hole 22 and rests against the tip of the tenon of a type member attached to the handle portion. Inward movement of the shaft by pressure applied to the push button will eject the type member. In use the type member is placed in the associated hole of the storage tray (see Fig. and released by pressure applied to the push button. This release is positive and the action of the ball on the sloped tip of the tenon tends to eject the type member with a snap action.

In. a modified form of release mechanism, shown in Figs. 7 and l1, the plug i8 has a cylindrical bore except for the lower end, which is ared and the release shaft lll has a cylindrical lower end l2 having an axial bore f5.3. The wall of bore i3 has a tear-drop opening i5 through which a spring-pressed ball 45 protrudes. As shaft 4| is forced downwardly against the action of spring 153, by pressure being applied on pushbutton 137, the ball 45 is pushed into the radial hole 8. The tenon 119 on type member 5B is cylindrical with a groove 5i therearound. On release movement of the shaft di the ball is forced out of the cylindrical bore 43 and the type member may drop out under the force of gravity, as in this case neither is there a pin pushing on the end of the tenon nor does the ball stay in contact therewith as the wall of the axial bore 43 intervenes.

A pin 52 cooperates with an axial groove 53 of shaft 4I preventing its turning with respect to tubular handle portion 89 preserving the alinement of the tear-drop hole l0 and ball 45.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 2 has a lower portion which is the same as that of Fig. 1, except it is shorter and the top of the tube ls tapered as at 55 to receive the ared skirt 55 of an extension tubular handle portion 57 which has an axially bored plug 58 through which passes a narrowed portion 59 of release shaft 68 which has at its lower end a button 8l nearly in contact with button 62 on the upper end of release shaft 63 of the lower portion. The upper end of release shaft 69 is provided with a button 54 and said shaft is kept in the up position wherein button 6i makes contact with plug 58 through the action of spring 65 extending between plug 58 and button 54. The lower handle 66 is provided with a pin 67 which cooperates with L-shaped slotl 88 in the flared skirt of tubular handle portion 57 so the upper and lower parts may be locked together. Pressure applied on button 64, when the upper and lower parts are locked together, will cause button 84 to move downwardly, making contact with button 82 and pushing it inwardly to release the attached type member 79. The lower portion, shown in Fig. 8, operates by itself in the same manner as the longer device of Fig. 1.

While the forms of mechanism herein shown and described are admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to conne the invention to the forms or embodiments herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various other forms.

What is claimed is:

1. A type member` including a cup in which a. type character is held, a rim-like shoulder portion extending outwardly from the bottom of the cup so the type member may be suspended cup side down in a hole in a tray, which hole will receive the cup proper but not the rim-like shoulder, and said cup-shaped holder having a coneshaped tenon extending outwardly from the bottom thereof, said tenon having a groove around it between the apex and base in a plane normal to the axis of the cone.

2. In combination, a type member having a cone-shaped tenon with a groove around the tenon between the apex and base of the cone and in a plane normal to the axis of the cone; and a handle by which the type member may be re- `leasably held by the tenon, said handle having a holding means and a release member, the holding means being a spring-pressed ball protruding into a conical recess in one end of the handle into which recess the tenon fits, the conical tenon and recess enabling ready entry of the tenon into the recess, the ball being pushed aside while the tenon end is passing it and thereafter returning to project into the groove, and the release member being mounted in the handle so it may be shifted by an operator from an ineffective to an effective position and vice versa, said release member having an end portion which moves into the recess and cooperates with the tenon of a held type member when the release member moves from ineffective to effective position, releasing the type member, and said release member normally being held in ineffective position by a spring extending between the release member and the handle.

3. The device of claim 2 in which the release member strikes the apex of the cone-shaped tenon of a handle-held type member when the release member moves from ineffective to effective position, ejecting it from the handle.

4, The device of claim 2 in whic there is provided an extension piece for the handle which may be attached to the handle to lengthen it, said extension piece having a shiftable releasing member, normally spring-held in ineffectual position, but which when shifted, while the extension is attached to the handle, shifts the release member held by the handle to release any type member held thereby.

GEORGE T. BROWN, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 346,605 Perry et al. Aug. 3, 1886 357,587 Erskine Feb. 15, 1887 788,488 Miller Apr. 25, 1905 884,481 Glaus Apr. 14, 1908 1,001,689 Rogers Aug. 29, 1911 1,259,238 I-Iudspeth Mar. 12, 1918 1,324,248 Gieske Dec. 9, 1919 1,656,450 Steuer Jan. 17, 1928 1,769,583 Lamb et al July l, 1930 1,854,215 Mueller Apr. 19, 1932 2,234,422 Wiswell Mar. 11, 1941 2,427,765 Chollar Sept. 23, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 520,163 Germany Mar. 7, 1931 

